People wearing masks walk on a crosswalk near a Walgreens on September 30, 2020 in New York City.
Alexi Rosenfeld | Getty Images
Walgreens said Wednesday it will offer a growing list of financial products for customers, including a shared branded credit card and a prepaid debit card as it tries to earn more from its portfolios and help them manage costly medical expenses. .
Credit cards will be released during the second half of this year. They will be part of the Mastercard network and will be issued by Synchrony. They will be related to Walgreens ’new loyalty program, which the company relaunched in November with a new name, benefits and pandemic-inspired features, such as sidewalk pickup and delivery via DoorDash and Postmates.
Walgreens and its pharmacy colleagues are adapting to rapidly changing consumer behaviors that have accelerated during the pandemic. Walgreens has been looking for new business opportunities, including a deal with Village® to open hundreds of primary care clinics in its stores.
John Standley, president of Walgreens, said the company believes financial services are also one of those engines of growth. “As we continue to focus on creating new revenue streams, we look forward to exploring and introducing even more payment initiatives for health and wellness in the near future,” he said in a press release.
It is the second major retailer this week to announce plans to expand into financial services. Walmart said Monday it is creating a fintech start-up with Ribbit Capital, one of the venture capital firms that is supporting Robinhood. The independent company will be majority owned by the big box retailer.
The pandemic and recession have put pressure on many families trying to stretch their money as they pay their bills and face reduced hours or unemployment. During the holidays, for example, a growing number of consumers were looking for other ways to finance their purchases. The use of “buy now, pay later” for online orders grew 109% during the holiday shopping season, which ran from November 1 to December 31, and the longest period took place the last week before Christmas, according to a recent Sales Force report.
Affirm Holdings, a term lending provider to online shoppers, will begin trading on the Nasdaq later Wednesday.